Classic Tracks Back to Back

Presents the history of popular music from the 1950s. This work charts six decades of hits and cuts from Bill Haley to Britney Spears. It looks at the musical genres that work best in the shorter format, including rock'n'roll, Motown, punk, disco, and rap.

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"Classic Tracks Back To Back" is a richly illustrated chronological history of popular music from the 1950s to the present day. Albums tells the stories behind more than 50 years of great recordings, from 'In The Wee Small Hours' by Frank Sinatra to Radiohead's 'In Rainbows'. Flip the book upside down for Singles, which charts six decades of hot hits and cool cuts by everyone from Bill Haley to Britney Spears. It features albums that detail the making of 400 of the most important albums of the past 50 years - the bestselling and most critically acclaimed records from a wide range of musical genres. It looks at the influence of technology and commerce on the artistic process and the different ways that albums have been made and released over the years, from vinyl LP to internet download.From big studio orchestrations like the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds' to Moby's home-recorded 'Play'; from the painstaking overdubbing of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon' to the rough edges of 'Nevermind' by Nirvana; it's all here. Albums puts the spotlight on individual records and presents them in a wider context, taking a fresh look at the history of popular music from a unique perspective.
Singles covers more than 750 records by over 500 artists, from the primitive cool of 'Louie Louie' by The Kingsmen to the complex technological feats behind Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', and from the peerless disco of Abba's 'Dancing Queen' to the precocious teen-pop of 'Baby One More Time' by Britney Spears. It looks in detail at the musical genres that work best in the shorter format, including rock'n'roll, Motown, punk, disco, rap, and more, and profiles the unsung heroes behind the great recordings of the past and the impact of radio, television, and the internet on the life of the single.